


Sea of Stars

by nonplussing



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Stardust - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-06
Updated: 2014-12-11
Packaged: 2018-02-24 06:59:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2572355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonplussing/pseuds/nonplussing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean lives in a sleepy little town and undertakes a grand quest to win the heart of a fair maiden.  He must journey far beyond the walls of his city to find a fallen star, but he ends up tackling a stranger challenge than he expected. It's a Stardust AU based on a tumblr post, that's basically it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

            Jean Kirstein lived in the small uneventful town of Wall, so named because of the long low wall that ran alongside the city.  The town was full of average people with average expectations and downright average lives.

            As Jean went about his equally average life, he had no idea how completely un-average the circumstances of his birth were, but that perhaps, is a story best saved for another time.  Currently, all Jean’s attention was set on the only un-average thing in all of Wall.  Hitch Dreyse.  Nearly every boy in the town of Wall (and even some of the men) dreamed of winning her hand.  She was the daughter of the town’s most successful business man, but you wouldn’t know it.  Mostly, she got by on her pretty dresses and coy looks, and these were plenty for her ardent admirers.

            As usual, work was busy for Jean.  Wall wasn’t big enough to warrant more than one general store, but it was plenty large enough that the one store was full to bursting every weekend.  Old women bustled about in their brown and grey shawls, squishing fruits and sniffing vegetables, complaining loudly about too soft pears and suspicious squashes.  Men walked through in dirty boots, lugging sacks of flour and potatoes over their shoulders, jostling in line, demanding to be rung up immediately.  They all had important nothings to get back to.

            Working as quickly as he could but as carefully as possible(he definitely didn’t need to be chewed out for making the wrong change…again), the lonely shop boy tallied one woman’s substantial basket of Brussel sprouts and sent silent pity to her family.  The crowd began to thing out as the weather grew windier and colder and the produce became more bruised.

            “$13.50, ma’am,” Jean said, loading the couples groceries back into their waiting basket.

            “Are you sure about that?” the woman huffed. “That’s nearly a quarter as much as last time.”

            “Well, you bought about twice as much last time,” Jean said, irritably.

            “What do you think you’re implying, kid?” Her husband leaned over the counter, placing his fists on the hardwood surface.  Jean didn’t really know what he was implying, but he was beginning to wish he’d just smiled and agreed.  But no, Jean Kirstein didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.

            “Nothing, sir.  Nothing at—“ The bell jingled as a figure in purple floated into the shop on a crisp autumn breeze.  The very fine figure made its way over to the counter, sliding between the couple and Jean.

            “I need two pounds of flour, four tomatoes, five pounds of potatoes, a bag of onions, and some chocolate, if you don’t mind,” Hitch said with a smile.

            “Y-yeah, right away!” Jean dodged around the counter and the line of customers to pick up the necessary items.

            “Walk me home?”  Jean nodded, mute.  They walked the block to her home in silence, Jean sweating slightly from the uphill climb and the weight of her groceries but not caring in the least.  They reached the door where Hitch turned, lifter her groceries from Jean’s arms, opened the door and disappeared with a brief thanks.  It wasn’t until he got back to the shop that he realized she never paid him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's my first ever post to this site... I know it's really short, but I'm not sure which characters are going to be which right now. Comment if you want or, you know, just read it, that's pretty cool too! Thanks for making it this far!  
> Based on this post: http://fourdprincess.tumblr.com/post/83026916032


	2. Chapter 2

_She's going to kill me.  No, not even that, she's going to hang me upside down from the clothesline and let the neighbor’s kids beat me like a piñata, then, once my insides are splattered all over the ground, she’ll take me down and_ then _she’ll kill me._ The sky outside his window was turning a rusty orange, clouds drifting along, hazy, almost peaceful, by all accounts a good day for dying a heroic death.  Although, Jean’s would be far from heroic.  After returning to the shop empty handed, the owner gave him a speech, very loudly and very much in front of every shop patron, in which Jean was told to “get your damn head out of the stars, and back to the ground like any reasonable boy” and the was thrown out the door.  Yes, Jean’s mother was most definitely going to kill him, just as soon as she got back from work.

    Jean looked back down at the sink.  The suds had long disappeared, and it was a shock he hadn’t worn a hole through the pan he was scrubbing.  The whole house was so spotless, it was nearly unrecognizable, shelves were orderly, the floors were scrubbed clean, the pantry was alphabetized, the laundry was even hung out to dry (Jean was hoping his mother would want to avoid getting blood on her freshly cleaned sheets). 

    He dried the last plate until it shone.  It really was impeccably clean, he could see his face in it.  On any other day, he would have been proud, but the face in the plate looked nothing short of petrified.  “It’ll be okay,” he told his reflection, “we just have to tell her straight up, ‘mom, I lost my job.’  Shit, no, she’ll want to know why.  I can’t tell her why.  She hates Hitch, but it’s not really Hitch’s fault.  I’m the one who forgot to collect the money.  Okay, how about ‘mom, the owner was an asshole and he fired me.’  She hates him, too, so that’d work right?  Except then she might go tell him off, then she’d no everything.  I can’t lie to her.  I’m a terrible liar.  I just have to be honest. ‘Mom, I lost my job’—”

    “Congratulations.”  The plate shattered as it hit the floor.  “Was that really necessary?” his mother asked, tossing him the broom and dustpan.  The look she was giving either meant she was amused or pissed off, it was hard to tell with her, but her freckled face was at least less bored than usual.  As Jean swept up his makeshift mirror, she plopped herself into one of the kitchen chairs, running a finger across the table top.  “Spotless, you should get fired more often.”

    Jean looked up, confused.  “So, are you mad, or…”

    “Not really, that shop guy _is_ an asshole, and I’ve never seen the house this clean, so that’s a plus.”  Ymir stretched her arms above her head, yawning widely. “Don’t feel too bad about him.  But you should feel bad about talking to that Hitch girl.  I don’t like her either.”

“    You don’t like anyone, mom.”  Jean tossed the plate in the trash and joined his mother at the table.  The sun was finally down and the house was dark.  Ymir pulled a matchbook out of her pocket and lit a candle.  With the warm orange light back in the room, she yawned again.

    “Yeah, that’s pretty true.  Alright, I’m taking a nap, but when I wake up, we need to talk.”  Jean’s mother was nothing if not blunt.  She left, closing the door to her room.  Jean, alone with the candle, contemplated lighting himself on fire.  “We need to talk” was, in his experience, never good, especially coming from his mother.

 _Well, if I’m going to die, I want to go out with a bang._   Jean got up took two more candles out of the cupboard along with a blanket, a basket, some choice breads and cheeses, and the most expensive bottle of alcohol he’d ever purchased.  Picnic in hand, he blew out the candle, and made his way back toward Hitch’s house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess I'm that person that takes forever to update, sorry! Comment if you want, feedback is welcome (: or you can just read it, that's awesome too  
> Based on this post: http://fourdprincess.tumblr.com/post/83026916032


End file.
